This Thing of Ours
by jayelo
Summary: "What would your daddy say?" Bella rolled her eyes at the question he asked every single time they did this. What would any Mob Boss say if he caught his daughter sleeping with one of his Wiseguys? "Best case scenario? Just murder you." Jasper/Bella Mob Story
1. Prologue

**A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

 **This is just the prologue. Will be predominantly Jasper/Bella along with some other couples. Enjoy!**

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Sulpicia yearned for a child.

She wanted one more than anything, it had been her dream since she was a little girl to be a mother. One Christmas – the best Christmas of her young life – she had received a babydoll, just what she had asked Santa Claus for. She cherished that toy more than anything in the world.

She treated the babydoll as if it were an actual baby, she fed it and changed and doted upon it. Her mother had tried to maybe get her to detach from the doll, but Sulpicia's adoration unwavered.

When she was seventeen, she fell in love. His name was Aro and he had slick black hair and hazel eyes and the most charming smile she had ever seen.

Their love story went pretty fast, five months into dating, he asked her father if he could marry her. They were married and it was perfect and they went on their honeymoon and it was perfect. The first couple of months were blissful. Aro was taking over the family business from his father.

Everyone knew who Aro was, and who the Volturis were and what they did. But it wasn't something anyone discussed. It was the family business and it was left at that.

Aro wanted to set up business across the country so they settled in Seattle, Marcus stayed in New York, holding base there. Caius and his wife, Athendora, went with them to Seattle and they set up their business. They bought a beautiful house, Sulpicia teasing Aro that they have four bedrooms to fill with children.

Once they were settled, Sulpicia and Aro decided it was time to expand their family.

They tried. And they tried and they tried.

Every medicine, every hormone, every prayer didn't work and a year after no results, the doctor told them that it probably wasn't going to happen.

Sulpicia didn't eat for a week, she only slept, the dreams of her holding her dream baby were much better than the harsh reality that she was barren.

Barren.

That word teased her mercilessly in her head.

He would leave her.

He wanted a child too, someone to carry on his legacy and the family business. She was useless to him.

He would find another woman, who was fertile. Who could provide him with a child, with an heir. She went over it in her head and realized that would make him happy, so she pushed him away.

He knew what she was doing, Aro assured her that he wouldn't leave, that he loved her – baby or no baby. He loved her, and only her, but he could admit that he was sad and angry that they wouldn't have a child. Not at Sulpicia, never at her, at God, at the world, at fate for not granting his wife what she desired. Something that no matter how much money was in his bank account, no matter how many people he killed, he couldn't give it to her.

He took his frustrations out at work.

Everyone knew why he was angry, but they wisely kept their mouths shut. Well, that was after one person had recommended that Aro take a lover and impregnate her, to secure the family's future.

That man had luckily walked away with a rearranged face and some broken teeth courtesy of Aro's .357.

Things got pretty bad when Athendora hesitantly announced that she was pregnant, with triplets. It was a joyous time in her and her husband's life, but she had witnessed what her dearest friend was going through and thought that by telling her, it would be a torment.

You could see the flash of pain on her face when they told her and then it was gone and Sulpicia smiled and hugged her friend, congratulating her. She wasn't so bitter that she would be unhappy at them, but she was jealous. So jealous! Not one baby, but three! She was going to have three babies. It wasn't fair!

When she got home, the dam broke. She screamed and cried and wailed and cursed and broke in Aro's arms. This catharsis turned out to be what Sulpicia needed. She decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and what was never going to come and dote on Athendora and the three little ones who were making her arrival. She was going to be the godmother she could be.

The three girls arrived – Tanya, Katrina, and Irina – and Sulpicia doted on them and spoiled them rotten. She was content.

The good Dr. Cullen was an old friend of Aro's having met in Italy while Carlisle was studying abroad. He was one of the reasons they chose Washington to settle in and grow their business seeing as how his old friend had a home about three hours away in a quaint town called Forks.

Knowing of the couple's misfortune, he thought he might have a solution to their problems. He informed the couple of a parentless baby at the hospital he worked at. The baby's parents had been involved in a car accident that killed the father instantly, the mother was forced into early labor and died giving birth. No other family to speak of.

Sulpicia looked at Aro with tears in her eyes at the story, the thought of that poor baby all alone in the world and also what Dr. Cullen was implying.

A call to their consigliere and a good amount of money later and the adoption was settled. Aro and Sulpicia went to the hospital, the latter in a complete daze. She was about to become a mother. It was finally going to happen, and she had a brief moment of panic.

What if her being barren was God's way of saying that she wasn't fit to be a mother? What if she was supposed to be childless her whole life because she would be terrible at it? What if she ruined the baby? What if she did everything wrong? Was it too late to back out?

Then she saw her, and all those fears fell right to the floor. She was so tiny, laying in the NICU. She was two months premature and would need to be monitored for a bit before they could take her home.

Those two months, the Volturis visited her as she grew bigger and stronger. The doctor's said she would be able to come home soon and Sulpicia could not wait.

When Athendora and Esme Cullen, the good doctor's wife, had heard the news, they dropped everything to help prepare. Most people had nine months to get everything a baby needs together, they only had two.

Esme was a part time interior designer, which she was good at so she took over creating a beautiful nursery in the Volturi house while Athendora was a self declared "professional shopper," which Caius would grumble she was a little too good at, so she took over buying what the baby would need, taking that stress off the new parent's minds. Fortunately with having triplets, she had mountains upon mountains of baby girl clothes.

The Volturi's had the support of the families, and the time to bring the baby home was looming, but the baby still wasn't named. Sulpicia knew that this would most likely be her only child, so she wanted to think long and hard on the name - which turned out to be a very obvious choice.

"Isabella," Sulpicia murmurred, mesmerized by the baby. She stroked her fine dark hair with a feather light touch. "After my grandmother."

Aro was staring at the child – their daughter – in awe. His gaze shifted back and forth between the baby and Sulpicia, seeing his wife falling in love and he smiled. That smiled hadn't graced her face in a while.

Today was the day that they were taking the newly named Isabella home with them.

Sulpicia had walked into their house to see practically everyone she had ever met, who came to see the baby. The women cooed at the baby, the men lit cigars and congratulated Aro. It was a celebration and the new parents were besides themselves with happiness.

Athendora doted on her goddaughter, showing her off proudly to all the guests. The triplets were fascinated with their new cousin, so excited to dress her up and play with her. Caius and the men proclaimed that she was going to break a lot of hearts when she gets older and they'll most likely have to break a lot of faces.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming today to welcome our daughter Isabella into the family. She truly is a blessing to Sulpicia and I," Aro started, looking into the crowd to see his mother and mother-in-law fussing over Isabella. Sulpicia just beamed at him and a lump caught in his throat at how beautiful she looked, soaked in happiness. He raised his champagne glass, "To Isabella!"

"To Isabella!" the crowd echoed, taking a sip of their champagne.

The families had come together for the baby's debut. Aro had flown in his and Sulpicia's parents in from Italy to meet their grandchild. The other families from across the country came to the party to toast the heir, everyone across the globe had heard of Isabella Marie Volturi, and everyone knew that this child was important – a Principessa – and this child would be protected, given anyone tried to harm her.


	2. One

A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

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"Sweetheart, are you ready?"

Bella turns around to see her mother standing in the doorway. Dressed in all black, though the dreary color did little to defer from her beauty. Her mother could radiate elegance in a burlap sack, but black was appropriate given where they were headed.

"Yeah, mom," Bella gives a small smile, grabbing her raincoat and pulling it around her. She notices her mother picked their dresses to match, something they have always done. Some girls may think it's kind of silly to match your mother, especially when you're eighteen years old, but Bella would take it as a compliment. Sulpicia Volturi is gorgeous. Brown curly hair, green eyes and a bone structure women would kill to have. Her mother is also one of the sweetest women in the world. The ultimate package, her father is a lucky man.

"The car should be downstairs," Sulpicia fixes a stray curl on her daughter's head, before pulling back to study her appearance. Bella knows she probably looks exhausted, which is fitting considering they landed in New York around one in the morning. "Let's go get this over with, then we can come back here and take a nice long nap."

Bella instantly smiles at that as she follows her mother out of the hotel room.

She's dressed in the same black dress as her mother, but she skips the sky-high heels for a pair of black Mary Janes. Proper and comfortable, and today was not the day to embarrass herself and trip.

Her father had already left earlier in the week when the news broke, leaving their Seattle home to head to New York. Her uncle Caius had gone with him. Bella had the last of her finals at school to take, so she and her mother flew in last night. Normally, when they would visit New York, they would stay at Marcus and Didyme's. It was a large mansion with about half a dozen rooms that Bella remembers it was the perfect hide and seek place when she was younger.

But this was not a happy time.

Didyme, Marcus' wife, had been murdered and the man was a complete wreck. Everyone knew that Marcus adored Didyme, above everything else, so he was close to swallowing a bullet. Her uncle and father had been guarding him around the clock, all of his guns removed from his home for the time being.

Bella sees their car waiting for them with Emmett McCarty standing outside it. "A bear wearing peoples clothes," is how Bella can describe her father's worker and their personal bodyguard. He stood 6'6, built like a brick shithouse and had the most deceiving baby face. The second thing you'll notice about him after you take in his size are the prominent dimples on his cheeks when he smiles. Emmett was an up and coming heavyweight boxer dubbed appropriately "The Bear" from the way he would just absolutely batter his opponents. He was forced into retirement before he got a real title shot, unfortunately. One too many hits to the head were taking a toll on his brain and affecting his memory. Her father had been a fan of his and offered Emmett a life after boxing, which is how he's here now.

"Hey, Em," Bella smiles, receiving a dimpled one in return.

"Hey, Bells," he smiles, dimples appearing before he nods at a Sulpicia, "Mrs. Volturi."

"Hello, Emmett."

The Volturi women slide into the back of the black Cadillac and Em closes the door for them before getting in the passenger side, nodding for the driver to take off.

The drive to the church only takes about fifteen minutes and Em is out before the car even stops, opening the door and holding a hand to help Bella out of the car. Mother and daughter walk arm in arm into the church, seeing as they enter that everyone – and that means everyone – came out to say goodbye to Didyme.

Aro immediately spots his daughter and wife and waves them over, standing with her uncle Caius, Marcus sitting in the pew staring straight ahead at the large Crucifix that huge in the church. Aro kisses his wife and turns toward his daughter, kissing her forehead. She smiles up at her father. Aro's inky black hair was slicked back and he hadn't shaved in about two weeks so he still has his neatly trimmed beard that his wife hates.

"How were finals, Isabella?" He was the only one who really called her Isabella since her godmother had given her the nickname of Bella - "because she's just so beautiful!"

She felt her godmother was biased.

"Piece of cake," Bella shrugs nonchalantly, Aro smiles as he guides Bella over to where they will be sitting. Sulpicia has gone over and kissed Marcus on the cheek, murmuring sweet words in his ear to comfort him. He briefly turns his head to nod at Sulpicia before going back to staring straight ahead.

Marcus and Didyme had been childhood sweethearts who got married right when they were seventeen. They were childless by choice, neither really having the patience or desire for a child. They were about to celebrate their twenty-third wedding anniversary when Didyme was shot by an unknown man. The papers were just painting it off as a robbery, but anyone with half a brain knows the truth. She was murdered and it was planned.

Seeing Caius perk up, Bella turns to see Athendora walk into the church, followed by the triplets. As these four practical angels casually walk into the church, the male attention immediately turns to them - bar Marcus who kept staring forward and Aro who's attention was firmly focused on his own gorgeous wife.

Athendora could only be described as stunning, though that might not be a strong enough word. Her usual long blonde hair was pulled back away from her face and her shapely figure was draped in a modest black dress. She was her mother's age at thirty-nine and absolutely did not look it. You would think the three girls walking behind her were her younger sisters.

The triplets were equally as stunning, having won the genetic lottery. Tanya's long strawberry blonde hair fell in tight ringlets to her ample chest, while Kate's hair was the color of gold, falling in loose curls down her back. Irina had inherited her father's pale blonde hair fell in waves a little past her shoulders. All three of them were tall and supermodel-esque and Bella always felt her self-esteem drop a couple of notches when around them. If it wasn't for them being very close, having grown up together, she would avoid them at all costs.

Tanya, Katrina and Irina immediately make their way over to their little cousin as their mother immediately went to Marcus. The triplets engulf Bella in a group hug, three different types of expensive perfume assault Bella's nose and she has to stop herself from coughing.

"Bella, you look so cute."

"I love your dress, is that Chanel?"

"Ugh, this humidity is causing my hair to frizz."

The triplets always do this, they start talking at the same time forgetting that there are three of them and their voices carry. The triplets were four years older than Bella at twenty-two and had just graduated college the month before in May, so Bella hasn't seen them in a while considering they all went cross country to NYU. Bella just smiles as they continue to babble.

"Girls," Athendora gently chastises the girls, reminding them of where they are before she kisses Bella's forehead. "You look beautiful, Bella."

"Thank you, Dora," she smiles at her godmother.

"It's starting, let's take our seats," Aro comes over to the group, guiding his wife and daughter over to the pew that they would be sitting at. Caius and Athendora follow with the girls, sitting directly behind them.

Bella knows it's a selfish thought, but she hopes the service goes by fast. She hates funerals. There just always seems to be one around the corner.

...

The rain had let up when they had arrived at the cemetery to lay Didyme to rest. Bella is thankful for this – she gets enough rain living in Washington and leaves her raincoat in the car. The rain had broken the humidity leaving Bella comfortable in her quarter sleeved black dress.

All of the "most important people" are sitting in the front row – Bella's parents, the triplets parents, all of the other Heads, while she and the triplets sit directly behind her parents.

Glancing at Marcus, Bella sees that he is just staring at the coffin. That kind of love must be a blessing and a curse. To love someone so much that they're the light of your life, yet when it's extinguished you're just bathed in neverending darkness. Bella's not sure if she'd like a love like that.

"Who is that?" Tanya hisses to her sisters, causing Bella to look over at her cousins. The blondes looked transfixed by something and Bella frowns, following their gaze. It doesn't take long to figure out exactly what – actually, who – they were staring at.

"I don't know," Bella muttered, not realizing she was now staring as well.

She was never one to have crushes, partly because everyone knew of her father and there were rumors of what he did, which was a clear stay away sign to all men. The few that tried to flirt with her were scared away when they saw Emmett pick her up from school. Not like she was interested in any of the boys at school.

Bella went on one date in her entire life. He asked her, practically shaking with fear as he kept glancing at Emmett out of the corner of his eye. It didn't help that the bear of a man was glaring at him the entire time. The boy came over to pick her up for the date, coming inside the house to meet her parents. Bella thought everything was going smooth, he was nervous but still chatting with her mom and dad. Then it happened. Caius and his family were coming over for dinner and the minute the triplets walked into the room, all thoughts of Bella flew from the boy's head. The entire date, he asked Bella questions about them, if they were dating anyone, if they were interested in high school guys. Bella ended up storming out of the restaurant and went home crying. She swore off dating until she got to college.

Funny enough, she planned on avoiding that boy at school if he even thought about approaching her, but he ended up steering clear of her. Something that she thought Emmett had a part in, though he denied it. She hugged the big bear anyway in thanks.

That was then and that was a boy. There was no mistaking the blonde man for a boy. She never felt the things she was experiencing right now.

He was tall, she would say a couple of inches shorter than Emmett, and not as brawny – though it was clear that he was broad through the black suit he wore. He had blonde hair falling to his chin in curls and hazel eyes. His face, however, was severe. He continually scanned the crowd as if looking for some kind of threat and she realized that he was most likely a Soldato (soldier).

"I think Bella's got a little crush," Tanya teases in a whisper, her sisters giggling in return as they see their starstruck cousin.

Bella ignores them as she feels a fluttering building in her gut. He is handsome. Extremely handsome. She wants to keep looking at him, so she did. And then he was looking right at her, and her heart stops beating for a second.

…

Jasper stands behind Don Angelo, his eyes scanning the crowd, partly in making sure no one tries anything funny and partly just because he was seeing the families in one place for the first time.

He could see Marcus staring at the casket that held his wife. Fuck, he can feel the man's heartbreak from here. He didn't think that anything was going to pull him from this, until he found the pig who killed his wife, or swallowed a bullet. Whatever came first.

Caius sat next to his wife, Athendora, who was holding her husband's hand in her two. It seemed that all the couples today held their significant others just that much closer.

Behind them sat their daughters, the infamous triplets who are looking at him, whispering to each other. He quickly studies them and sees that they're living up the hype around them. They are gorgeous, he can admit that, just not his type.

Aro Volturi is the one Head he has not met, which means he's never met his wife or daughter. He sees Sulpicia Volturi sitting next to her husband. He knows all about them, their story, how they had to adopt their daughter because Sulpicia was barren.

The woman looks over to her husband who catches her gaze and he lifts her hand to his mouth, kissing it. So that's why he never took another lover, to have carry a child. She's the only one in his eyes.

His neck prickles, the telltale sign of eyes on him. He immediately goes back on alert and scans the crowd, quickly finding a pair of brown orbs looking right at him. Watching him. He stares right back and she doesn't look away when he catches her.

Her eyes widen slightly and her mouth parts.

Gorgeous.

She's sitting behind Don Aro, next to Caius and Athendora's daughters. He allows himself to just stare, drinking her in like a thirsty man. Her hair is long, a dark brown color which is a sharp contrast to her porcelain skin. Her eyes were the same color as her hair, big and beautiful and her cheeks had a rosy tint to them. He knows that she's scrutinizing him the same way he's doing to her and he's trying to think of ways that he could excuse himself from the Don for a moment so he could go talk to her. Maybe at least get her number because he's not stupid and judging from the looks on her face, he knows that she likes what she sees. And, fuck, he likes what he sees too.

She breaks the connection first and he sees that the ceremony has ended and Marcus is kissing the casket before they start lowering it in the ground. Everyone starts standing up to head to the reception at Marcus' home. Caius walks over to the widow and guides him over to their car while Aro Volturi turns to the brunette and says something to her.

'Yes, daddy,' she responds and Jasper's heart drops into his gut.

Fuck. Don Aro's daughter. Untouchable.

No one is good enough in a Don's eyes for their daughter.

She's Isabella Volturi which means only eighteen years old, a child practically, still in high school and he's just a twenty-three year old man lusting after her like some sick pervert. His stomach twists and turns and he worries he's going to hurl.

"Jasper," Don Angelo says his name and he's immediately at attention, forcing the sickness away. He sees that the Don is looking at the Volturi family as well and he gestures for Jasper to roll his wheelchair over to them. The Volturis are still standing around when he reaches them and Aro's attention is immediately on the older Don as he greets him properly, kissing his hand. Don Angelo then kisses Sulpicia's hand before his smile widens as Isabella walks over to him.

"Cucciola," Don Angelo says as Isabella bends down to kiss his cheek. "I haven't seen you since you were a little girl. You've grown into such a beautiful young lady."

The brunette blushes profusely as she mumbles a quiet thank you. Jasper finds the sight quite enticing, a shy little beauty. Eighteen, he reminds himself, legal to look.

"I'm just sad that it was this event that brought us together again," Don Angelo says before turning his head to look at Jasper. "This is Jasper Whitlock."

Jasper feels the family's eyes turn toward him and he stands up nice and straight. He doesn't want to intimidate them or anything, not that he really could. He's confident in his abilities that the Army has given him, but this was different. Completely different. He just wants to make a good impression on the Don and takes the offered hand, resisting the urge to bend down and kiss Aro's hand. As Don Angelo had informed him, Aro wasn't so old fashioned so doing that wouldn't impress the man.

"Nice to meet you, Jasper," Aro says while shaking the man's hand before wrapping an arm around his wife. "This is my wife, Sulpicia, and our daughter, Isabella."

He does kiss the women's hands though, not only being a Southern gentlemen, it's proper etiquette. He kisses Sulpicia's hand before turning to Isabella, those damn brown eyes locking him in once more. Standing up, he can fully see her slim build through the black dress she's wearing. She's small, about a full foot smaller than him, he reckons, and he likes that.

That beautiful pink blush graces her cheeks again and he his chest swell with male pride that he can put that blush on her cheeks with one look, and wants to see what else can put that blush on her face.

Teenager, teenager, teenager, he chants in his head.

Kissing Bella's hand, he smiles gently at her. "A pleasure to meet you, Isabella."

"Bella," she corrects him with a small smile, "Just Bella."

Jasper reluctantly lets go of her hand, seeing that Bella looks just as pained as him to not be touching anymore. Sulpicia then wraps her arm around her daughter, "We're going to go back to the hotel," Sulpicia informs the men, "We're both still a little jetlagged."

"Of course," Aro says, gesturing for Emmett to go get the car. He kisses Bella's forehead and turns to his wife, "I'll see you back at the hotel."

Sulpicia murmurs her love for Aro, who responds in kind and Jasper feels like he's intruding on something personal. The couple love each other dearly, something that is comforting to see. Jasper's parents didn't like each other very much, and seeing that love does actually exist, despite trials and tribulations, is nice.

Don Angelo himself smiles at the sight as Bella walks over to kiss him goodbye, before standing up to face Jasper.

"Goodbye, Jasper," her sweet little voice says and he inclines his head toward her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Goodbye, Isabella."

She looks like she wants to correct him, but doesn't. She instead smiles at him, a real smile this time, not just a little shy one. He feels his heart clench at the sight. Her face lights up when she smiles, and she turns from gorgeous to fucking stunning. Fuck, he curses.

He's done for.


	3. Two

**AN: Don't own anything, SM owns Twilight.**

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"Romanians."

"No shit," Caius scoffs, lifting the bourbon to his lips to take a sip. "It's not the who, it's the why?"

Aro frowns, "We've already made the peace accord, it's been in effect for two years. Why do this now?"

Don Aro had called for a meeting immediately following the funeral, sending Sulpicia and Isabella back to the hotel to rest with a promise that they would have dinner together. Marcus' home was their meeting headquarters on the East Coast and the office in it is Don Aro's.

Sulpicia didn't like business being conducted in their own home back in Washington as she wanted their home to be just a home, not a headquarters. Caius' house was usually their meeting ground when they were on the west coast.

There are many sectional leaders of the family across the country, but Don Aro is the true Head of the family, inherited from his late Father, God rest his soul. Caius, his second and while Marcus is also a leader, he didn't have as much as Aro or Caius, not that he particularly minded. He was perfectly fine to take the backseat and focus on his life with Didyme.

The office in Marcus' home is gorgeous to say the least, warm browns and dark reds were the color scheme paired with mahogany furniture. On the shelves that line the walls, different books about the Volturi family and family artifacts sat. In the middle is Aro's desk, where he sits now, hands steepled and eyes on the family picture of himself, Sulpicia and Isabella that they took last Christmas.

He couldn't believe she would be leaving for college soon. Soon it would just be him and Sulpicia at their home, well until she came home for her different breaks through the year, but still. How the hell did his princess grow up so quickly?

He's extremely proud of her, and her accomplishments. She excels in school, never gets into any trouble, is kind and respectful. He and Sulpicia raised a perfect daughter, he's so proud of her and now he has to let her go to the adult world.

He trusts Bella's judgement, but he's not unaware to the fact that she might be quite sheltered and naïve. Something he is very guilty of.

He and Sulpicia know that Bella will be their only child and they did everything they could to protect her from the world. He's quite aware of the fact that she doesn't have many friends, she's never had a boyfriend, she prefers staying in and reading a book than going out and partying – well, that one he actually is quite pleased with.

She's never had many real world experiences, something she is going to have at college. It might be thrown at her way too fast and he worries how she'll handle things.

Caius' voice brings him out of his rather depressing thoughts, "I took the Romanians for not being so reckless, what could have sprung this attack?"

"Revenge," Don Angelo pipes up. The older man sat near the bay window that had a view of the city skyline. Jasper hovers close to him, always at attention for the old Don. Aro and Caius' heads swing to him, looking at him in question.

"What?"

"Why?

Caius and Aro ask at the same time.

"We made the accords, Vladmir and Stefan promised peace, we promised peace. Vladmir and Stefan suddenly had a change of heart, they believed our territory stretched too far, we started hearing rumors of an attack, so... " Don Angelo trails off, knowing that every man in the room could gather what he was saying.

"Shit," Aro curses, putting puzzle pieces together. "Who?"

Don Angelo hesitates, something uncommon of the usual blunt man. "It wasn't meant to be them."

"Who?" Aro repeats.

"Ana and Elena."

Everyone knows the names. The wives. The untouchables.

"Fuck!" Caius curses before downing the entire tumbler of whiskey. Aro sits in his chair as the full repercussions of this wash over him. The wives. Daughters. It's common knowledge that there were many lines that you could cross in this business, but women and children were not one of them. The thought of something happening to Sulpicia or Isabella was the one thing that could make Aro lose control and see red. He has to be smart about this. He knows what Don Angelo is about to say and his mind is going a mile a minute as he starts to plan.

"Believe me, gentlemen," Don Angelo warns sadly. "Didyme was only the first target, there will be more."

…

Aro sits at the desk still, not having moved since the end of the meeting an hour ago. Caius had immediately left, heading right to the hotel to be with his wife. Aro craves the exact same thing, but he wants to just sit in the silence for a bit. He's appreciative of Don Angelo's presence in the room.

Sometimes Aro still feels like he's nineteen years old and learning the family business. Don Angelo was Aro's mentor when he was stepping up as Head, the man taught him everything he knows today. Kicking his ass when he needed it, when he needed to get his head straight. The man was not afraid to speak his mind. Shit, Aro can't think of anything Don Angelo would be afraid of.

He's only seen the man cry once, when his beloved wife passed away three years ago. It was brief, but he saw the tear trail down the man's wrinkled cheek as they lowered his wife's casket into the ground.

"Take Jasper with you," Don Angelo interrupts his thoughts, causing Aro to blink in confusion.

"What?"

"You're going to take him with you," Don Angelo repeats. "An extra guard. Have him watch over Isabella while she's at college."

"I was going to have Emmett watch her while she's at school."

Don Angelo immediately shakes his head at that idea, "Emmett is far too noticeable, Aro. I'm sure the Romanians already know who he is. Easily identifiable. He gets taken out, you know what will happen. You need someone with natural camouflage."

Aro follows his train of thoughts and nods in agreement. Emmett could bring attention to himself by not even by trying being that big and brawny and he has to admit that Jasper has a good way of just blending in.

He is a good choice to guard Isabella and Emmett could stay home with Sulpicia when he's not around, an extra set of eyes.

Aro then questions, "What's his deal?"

Don Angelo smiles, "Army. Served a couple of tours and then was discharged. Highly skillful."

"Where did you find him?"

"A year ago, Felix and Demetri were at a fight," Don Angelo starts, referring to the underground fights they had their hand in. Mostly taking place in New York, at an undisclosed location, bare knuckle brawls. Just another business deal for them. "Jasper fought. Won every time. A massacre, Demetri said, like Ares in battle."

"A massacre?" Aro questions skeptically.

"Trust me, I didn't believe it until I saw it. It's true. I invited him to come meet with me, offered him an alternative lifestyle and he started collecting for me. Now here we are."

"You trust him?"

"Jasper is loyal to me which means he's loyal to you. It's extremely important to him."

Aro sits and thinks for a minute before nodding his head, "Are you sure you won't need him?"

Don Angelo chuckles, "Aro, I am eighty-three years old, they're not going to come after me. My time is almost up."

Aro brushes the thought of his mentor's death from his head, that thought is painful. Aro just nods once again, looking at the picture of a four year old Isabella on her birthday, smiling at the camera and feels a warmth that she will be safe while away at school.

…

Anyone who knows Aro Volturi knows that he loves his family. They also know that he is extremely protective of them.

That's how the Volturi family found themselves sitting in a private plane, instead of the first class flight they had used to fly into New York. Bella just sat in her seat as her dad chatted with the pilot and her mother read a book. She didn't know how her mother could read in airplanes or cars without getting sick. Even though they hadn't even taken off yet, Bella still feels queasy.

Emmett is sitting next to her completely distracted by a game on his phone. He had told her, without even looking at her, that he was on level 15 and he had never been on this level before and needed all of his concentration to be put into the game so he couldn't chit-chat for a little. She rolls her eyes at the man-child.

Sighing in boredom and wishing they could take off so she could just get back to her home and her own comfy bed, Bella puts her headphones in her ears to listen to music.

One more week until graduation and then a month until she moves into her dorm for summer classes.

She's nervous, as she's never been away from home before. She's never even had a sleepover with a friend before. Well, partly because one needs friends to accomplish that.

Okay, that's not really fair. Edward is a friend, of a sort. His dad was friends with her dad and they were kind of forced to talk to each other whenever Dr. and Mrs. Cullen were over for dinner to avoid boredom. He was okay, kind of intense and maybe a little full of himself, but nice enough got her. She also aware of his crush on her and while she could admit he's a pretty attractive guy – how could he not be with his Brad Pitt lookalike dad – but she really hoped once he went to Harvard, he would meet another girl and forget about her.

She never really had any close girlfriends, though. Well, besides the triplets. Though they were four years older than her so while they loved her, it was kind of lame to have your baby cousin tagging along.

Bella was notorious around her private school for being a Volturi, which caused both fear and unwanted superficial admiration – hence the reason for the no friends. She really didn't want fair weather friends that just cared about being associated with her last name.

She hopes that once she does get to college, her name won't be as recognized and she can achieve normality. Maybe make some friends who aren't petrified of her name and her watchdog Emmett. Her dad promised that he wouldn't be tagging along with her to college. It's not that she didn't love the big bear, but she really just wants to be a normal lowkey college student.

She feels her mother pull her headphones out of her ears and looks up to come face to face with the last person she expects to see.

Jasper Whitlock.

Standing in the plane next to her father, who's looking at her expectantly. "Isabella, you remember Jasper Whitlock, right?"

Bella nods her head dumbly, her mind still trying to play catch up. She sneaks a glance to her mother to see the woman looking equally as confused. She knows not to ask any questions though. Not now.

Jasper nods to Bella and Sulpicia before he takes a seat across the aisle from Bella as they close to the doors to the plane. Bella places her headphones back in her ears as her father takes a seat next to Sulpicia, taking her hand and placing a kiss on it.

Bella is so suddenly self-conscious as she tries to find a song to listen to, forcing her eyes to stay on the screen of her phone and not look to her right.

 _Don't look at him, don't look at him, don't look at him..._

…

 _Don't look at her, don't look at her, don't look at her..._

Jasper chants the mantra inside of his head as he looks out the window as they take off, looking for something – anything – to distract him from the brunette sitting near him.

She hadn't left his thoughts since the funeral and he had been looking forward to forgetting her until Don Angelo had approached him and told him about his plans. At first he wanted to refuse, but didn't. He respects the man too much to go against him and his wishes.

Though, it would seem that fate was granting him some sort of reprieve with his new assignment – protecting the girl while she's at college, but staying hidden. He thanked the old man for everything he has done for him and packed all of his stuff out of his tiny studio apartment. Aro had informed him that he could stay at their house until Isabella left for school, then he would get an apartment near Isabella's at school, preferably in the same building, so he could keep an eye on her.

This is an assignment he is taking very seriously, he's not going to let Don Angelo or Don Aro down. God knows the consequences would be deadly. He knows what Don Angelo can do to a man and he's heard horror stories that Caius and Aro have inflicted upon enemies. He's Army trained, there's not much that scares him in this world, but he could find himself being a little shaken by the thought of what Aro could do to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Bella still looking through her music library, though she hasn't selected a song yet. She seems distracted, and his ego yells that it's from him and his conscience reminds him that she's an eighteen year old girl. His self-preservation pipes up that it's Isabella Volturi, Don Aro Volturis daughter and the girl is untouchable.

He can also see Emmett McCarty who is the Volturis usual guard shooting him confused and wary looks. He briefly met the man at the funeral, their only interaction consisting of a head nod. He knows the man is probably wondering what the hell he's doing here, but he'll find out soon enough. He hopes he doesn't have any hard feelings or feels some type of way over him being Bella's bodyguard now.

He reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out a book to read, needing to find something to pass the next seven hours.

It's about four hours in when he sees Bella's head droop and he immediately turns to look at her, making sure she's okay and that nothing is wrong. He then sees – to his relief – that she's just gone to sleep. Already he's protective of her, which is both good and bad. He's looking forward to when she's at college and he can remain hidden and away from her.

Through the flight, he keeps sneaking glances at her, taking in her peacefully sleeping face. He allows himself a small smile at the sight.

...

"Here's your room, Jasper," Aro guides him to a guest room that he'll be staying in for the next month. "Bathroom is down the hall and to the left, kitchen is always open so help yourself."

Jasper surveys the room and he likes what he sees. It's decorated with rich colors, warm browns and reds. Red is the signature color of the Volturi family so it's not surprising that practically the entire house has some form of red in it.

A queen bed sits in the center of the room, a red comforter decorating it. A mahogany end table sits next to it which holds a brown lamp. On the far wall is a matching mahogany dresser with a small flat screen television on it. Jasper places his bag down on the bed and turns to look at Aro, who's studying him closely, gaging his reaction.

The look on the Don's face causes Jasper to shift slightly, a little uncomfortable. Don Aro has this intense gaze that makes you think he can read every thought in your head. "Thank you. I appreciate this, sir."

"I'll let you get settled in. Sulpicia usually serves breakfast around 7:30, but feel free to have a lie-in, I believe we all need one after this week. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Jasper echoes as the man walks out of the room. Jasper doesn't unpack his bag, not seeing a point when he'll need to repack in a month. Hell, he never really unpacks his bag anyway. Even in his own apartment, you never know when you'll need to make a quick getaway. He keeps his entire life in this duffle bag.

Hearing a loud bang outside his door, he's immediately on alert and in two seconds has his Glock in his hand and the safety off. He's at the door, cautiously opening it but all that greets him is Bella bending down to pick up the bag she dropped, the source of the loud noise.

"You okay," Jasper asks as he quickly tucks the Glock into his pants, hiding it from her sight. She jumps at the sound and turns, Jasper finding himself caught in her doe eyed gaze.

"Yeah, sorry," she says, swinging the messenger bag on her shoulder and reaching for her suitcase. Before she can get it, he's there and lifting it and handing it to her. "Thanks."

He nods and lifts up her suitcase, "Oh, J-Jasper, I can get th-"

"It's no problem, Bella," he says before nodding for her to lead the way to where she wants the suitcase. She sighs and leads the way down the hall, toward her bedroom. From the doorway of her room – no fucking way is he going into the Don's daughter's bedroom – he sees that it's quite large. The walls are painted a navy blue color, a contrast from the red in the house. In the middle of the room is a large bed with a white comforter, the far wall is not even a wall – it's a bookshelf filled with books. He can see two doors in her bedroom, he expects one leads to a closet and the other to a bathroom. Overall her room just fits her.

Bella drops her messenger bag on her bed and seeing that Jasper isn't coming into the room, walks over to the doorway to take the suitcase. Meeting his eyes she gives a small smile, "Thanks, again."

"You're welcome, Bella." he nods his head and takes that as his cue to leave. He turns to walk back to his bedroom until her sweet voice stops him.

"Oh, um...Jasper?"

He turns to her with an eyebrow raised in question.

"My dad doesn't really like guns in the house, so you might want to do a better job at hiding that," she says with a coy smile, nodding to the gun in his pants. His other eyebrow raises in surprise. How the hell did she know?

"Goodnight, Jasper."

He inclines his head to her, "Sweet dreams, Bella."

Her smile hits him like a punch to the gut.

 _You're so fucked, Whitlock._


End file.
